Micromax Canvas 2 (2017) a Great Offline Offering or A Mistake?

Micromax had almost disappeared from the Indian markets for quite a while but now they are back with a new device namely the Micromax Canvas 2 (2017) Edition. Their last shot to fame also was the canvas lineup of devices so can the new Canvas 2 (2017) hold up that legacy? Let’s find out.

The Canvas 2 (2017) is an offline-focused phone which is priced at Rs.11,999, its main USP is the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 covered display which is a rarity as of now in phones especially in this price segment. It also comes with Android 7.0 nougat right out of the box which is a first for Micromax. Micromax has also tied up with Airtel for a full year of free voice calls and data with a daily cap of 1 GB for a whole year. To clarify, Airtel’s offer includes 4G data and it comes with a data capped at 1GB per day and also offers unlimited free calling to any mobile network in India with the purchase of Canvas 2 (2017).

The mobile has a 5 inch HD (720p) display with 2.5D curved glass which frankly is a big letdown but considering its price and its offline only model for sale is acceptable. The display has a 400 nit brightness which goes against lacklustre. Under the hood is a Mediatek MT6737 Quad-Core chipset clocked at 1.3 GHz. There is 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage for the smooth functioning of the phone, users can also use a micro SD card to expand the storage by an additional 64 GB.

On the camera front, it houses a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5 MP front camera for video calling and selfies. General connectivity options like Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, 4G LTE with VoLTE is present although the Canvas 2 (2017) misses out on NFC.

The phone is powered by a 3,050mah battery which should be enough to last a full day of heavy usage. The phone is 8.5 mm thick and weighs in at 160 grammes. A front mounted fingerprint sensor is also present on the Canvas 2 (2017).

Micromax highlights that the glass is highly resistant to scratches and damage from sharp objects, moreover, they are also offering a one-year free screen replacement in case of any damage.

At this price point the canvas 2 2017 is competing with some of the better phones likes of the Redmi Note 4, Lenovo K6 Power, Honor 6x along with the Coolpad Cool 1 and Lenovo K5 Note. All of which are way better when compared to the Canvas 2 (2017) but the main USP of Canvas 2 (2017) is its offline only model which none of the other phones has. Micromax is also using the Airtel free 1-year offer as bait for naïve offline customers who blindly trust the shopkeepers and purchase a phone without a lot of research online.

With the above table, we can clearly see that the competition offers way better specifications at a better price point to but they are all online only which is still a touchy subject for a lot of Indian consumers.